Conrad Black convicted of fraud

[Eugene]

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Friday, 13 July 2007, 15:41 GMT 16:41 UK

Conrad Black convicted of fraud

Media tycoon Conrad Black has been convicted of four
charges of fraud and obstructing justice by a jury in
Chicago.

But Black was found not guilty of separate charges of
racketeering and tax evasion.

Black was facing 13 charges associated with claims that
he stole $60m from investors in newspaper firm Hollinger
International.

The jury took 12 days to reach a verdict in the high-
profile case.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6897991.stm

---

Source: Reuters

Jury finds Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud
Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:44AM EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former media mogul Conrad Black
is guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice
but innocent of racketeering, a U.S. jury found on Friday.

Black, along with three co-defendants, had been accused
by U.S. prosecutors of pilfering $60 million in payments
that should have benefited his former newspaper company,
Hollinger International Inc., and its shareholders.

The verdict came after nearly 15 weeks of testimony in
federal court. Black, a member of Britain's House of Lords,
could face decades in prison and millions in fines.

Black was found guilty of four of 13 charges.

The prosecution was led by the office headed by Chicago-
based U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who also prosecuted
former White House aide Scooter Libby.


Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1334913220070713

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. wow. one of the most expensive defense teams goes down

and Black gets hoisted on his own petard.

whoopie!.

of course, the suntimes is no longer his puppy and is turning distinctly to the left.

[intaglio]

2. Thank the Law!

Conrad Black - a man who thought he had it all now finds that that was theft

Trouble is that there is going to be a huge appeals process

[Spazito]

3. Black found guilty of obstruction of justice

After 10 days of deliberations, the jury at the fraud trial for Conrad Black has found the former media baron guilty on four of 13 counts in his fraud and racketeering trial, including the serious charge of obstruction of justice.

snip

"This is very bad news for Conrad Black, for Eddie Greenspan and for his lawyer Ed Genson. This carries a maximum penalty in the United States of 20 years in prison, US$250,000. He won't obviously see 20 years but he is probably looking at prison time," said Todd.


Developing



more, one more paragraph at this time

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070712/black_verdict_070713/20070713?hub=TopStories

(Gee, I wonder if the libby supporters are also going to gear up to fight for a pardon/commutation for poor, poor conrad, rofl, don't think so.)

[dancingme]

4. Fitz's office wins!

Fitz oversaw the team who prosecuted Black.

[The Magistrate]

5. Three Cheers For The Jury, Sir!

An excellent and admirable verdict on an execrable and detestable reptile....

[ozymandius]

16. Honestly, Mr. The Magistrate, I admire reptiles.

A snake bites not out of malice. A snake bites because it's acting on an instinctive level. One cannot blame the snake.

However, the "reptile" metaphor is not lost on me. The sentiment is appreciated. I just wish we had better metaphors to equate such vicious, conniving predatory greed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. First words on BBC news: "Conrad Black is a Crook"

:rofl: sometimes, it's good to be blunt.

[Kagemusha]

8. Wow, that's positively rude by BBC standards.

Some people over there must be taking some large amounts of glee in that they can justify such a headline.

[Kagemusha]

7. Bush better not pardon THIS guy too.

Too bad the jury basically ruled that Black obstructed justice successfully in the tax and racketeering cases.

[Spazito]

9. CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) is reporting Fitzgerald has

entered the court room, he was not in attendance for the verdict but has arrived since. Another successful prosecution of the scum attached to the bush cabal, black was/is close with Wolfowitz and Kissinger, libby and now black.

Thank you Mr. Fitzgerald and thanks also to a very responsible jury.

[JeffR]

10. Lord Tubby goes down!!!

:party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party:

[Ian David]

11. Conrad Black Black Black is going to jail jail jail!

(Unless Bush pardons him or somethin'.)

[ben_meyers]

12. I'll admit to not following this case,

How is Black connected to Bush and Libby?

[CHIMO]

21. Lord and Lady Black

But the marriage has been extremely successful. Lord and Lady Black are among the world's leading couples. Lord Black and his retinue of neo-cons, Kissinger and Richard Perle, have the ears of Tony Blair and George Bush any time they want.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20031120.html

[Spazito]

22. It seems Lady Thatcher, the Kissingers, the "elite" black so badly

wanted to be one of, are no longer taking his calls. The robe and title he wanted so badly means little now, even the Conservative Lords have turfed him and he can no longer sit among them.

I have NO sympathy for him or his scuzzy wife, they are the epitome of what is wrong in society, the entitled who believe they are above the law.

[CHIMO]

23. And Many

In the media might share your opinion.


http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-73-790-4843/politics_economy/concentration_press/

[bobthedrummer]

13. Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle and members Henry Kissinger

and Gerald Hillman formed Trireme Partners. Perle had Hollinger Digital. Money trumps peace, sometimes.

"Lunch With The Chairman. Why was Richard Perle meeting with Adnan Khashoggi?" by Seymour Hersh 3-17-2003
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/03/17/030317fa_fact

fair use cited

[LeftishBrit]

14. Serve him right...

He's a horrible man, a real right-winger and has apparently been a bit of a crook since he was a kid (he was expelled from Upper Canada College as a teenager for selling exam papers; and unlike many bad boys, has not improved with age!)

Rupert Murdoch next - well, probably not, but one can dream!

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Does anybody know if there's a statute of limitation on fraud?

[Lisa]

17. See ya, Lord Black of Crossharbour ...

I have to confess that I yelled "Yes!!!" when I read this post. Sorry to sound so vindictive, but this guy is a real piece of work ... and after years of acting as if laws are things that the little people have to follow, it's finally landed in his lap.

[LibertyorDeath]

18. Fascist Pig aka Conrad Black

convicted of fraud :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :toast:

:party: :toast: :beer: A very good day indeed!!!

[mitchum]

19. And now that royalist pig wants his Canadian citizenship back!

Good luck with that Lord Scumbag

[Spazito]

20. When asked what black's biggest mistakes were, one "expert" said,

Giving up his Canadian citizenship! I loved it! Mr.Pondscum flushed his citizenship down the proverbial toilet and is now desperately trying to fish it out again, roflmao!

[cosmicdot]

24. wonder if he's still sitting on The Nixon Center's Board of Directors?

they're all thick as thieves

http://web.archive.org/web/20050205063607/www.nixoncenter.org/boardac.htm

[Scurrilous]

25. Black's victims line up for compensation

<snip>

"Victims of Conrad Black's crimes are hoping to seize any remnants of the disgraced press baron's fortune through a blizzard of civil lawsuits seeking compensation for mismanagement and embezzlement.

As Black prepares for a bail hearing on Thursday, at which the US government will seek to have him sent directly to prison, lawyers say his multiple fraud convictions provide an open goal for a crowd of enemies demanding recompense.

The rump of Black's Hollinger International empire, renamed Sun-Times Media, said this weekend that it would forge ahead with a lawsuit seeking $542m (£266m) in damages from Black, his wife, Barbara Amiel, and former colleagues including Dan Colson, who used to manage the Daily Telegraph. Gordon Paris, the Sun-Times director who led an initial investigation into Black's profiteering, said the criminal conviction was a "step towards restitution and justice" for investors.

Under an indemnity clause for former officers, Sun-Times was obliged to pay 75% of Black's defence fees during his criminal trial. In the light of his conviction, the company could petition for its money back.

Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will restart an enforcement action seeking "disgorgement of ill-gotten gains" amounting to $85m which was stayed pending the result of Black's criminal trial. "We'll litigate rigorously," the SEC's assistant regional director, Peter Chen, told reporters."

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